Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
The Military Transportation News

New Evidence Indicates Amelia Earhart Survived For a Time on Pacific Atoll 365

In light of new evidence publicly released Friday showing artifacts believed to have been Amelia Earhart's, the U.S. Navy is prepping a mission to investigate the area where they were found. Next month marks the 75th anniversary of Earhart's disappearance, but the just-announced discovery of personal effects and the evidence of cooking represents the most concrete evidence yet that she did not simply crash into the ocean.
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

New Evidence Indicates Amelia Earhart Survived For a Time on Pacific Atoll

Comments Filter:
  • *YAWN* (Score:4, Interesting)

    by RLiegh ( 247921 ) on Sunday June 03, 2012 @05:07PM (#40203601) Homepage Journal

    who cares?

    Remarkably, we've pretty much had the Earhart mystery solved ever since partial remains were found on an island... in 1940. That's right, 70 years ago. Only four years after she vanished.

    Read more: 6 Famous Unsolved Mysteries (That Have Totally Been Solved) | Cracked.com http://www.cracked.com/article_18718_6-famous-unsolved-mysteries-that-have-totally-been-solved.html#ixzz1wlalcIS3 [cracked.com]

  • by GodfatherofSoul ( 174979 ) on Sunday June 03, 2012 @05:12PM (#40203647)

    It sounds like they were surviving fairly well which would indicate they weren't so injured that they couldn't keep themselves going on the island. And, if they were fishing (and not relying on birds/eggs) they could probably survive indefinitely. So, what did them in?

  • Re:Who? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by tragedy ( 27079 ) on Sunday June 03, 2012 @05:24PM (#40203727)

    What about the Red Baron? Isn't he a contender for most famous pilot ever (even if most people don't know his actual name)? I think we can agree that Amelia Earhart is _one_ of the most famous pilots ever and that there probably isn't one singular "most famous pilot ever".

  • Re:Who? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 03, 2012 @05:57PM (#40203929)

    She is the most famous pilot ever

    Nope. Chuck Yeager is the most famous pilot ever. And people still know who he is.

    Chuck who?

  • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 03, 2012 @06:15PM (#40204053)

    Kiribati is the small nation that includes Gardner Island. A US Navy expedition into the area would pump money into the local economy. This sort of expedition is often encouraged by local governments. The military is a diplomatic tool as much as it is anything else. Considering the shifting politics of the region keeping a good relationship with a small but well placed country could bring significant benefits in time of crisis. For historical reference Tarawa, of the Battle of Tarawa, is the capital of Kiribati.

  • Re:Who? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 03, 2012 @06:31PM (#40204173)

    "I'm sure you talk a lot about her in US"

    Ummm.. dude. She's, at least, the most famous female aviator of that era. She gets 6 MILLION google hits. She's one of the most famous pilots of all time, among either sex.

    You think there's a more famous female pilot of that era, tell us who you think it is, and we'll see. There isn't. It's her. It would be like me saying, "Sure, I'm sure you talk about Yuri Gagarin a lot in Russia, but I'm from the USA, so how should I have heard of him?" Well, the answer is that unless I have no clue at all about history, I know who he is even though I'm not from Russia.

    Sheesh. By the way, Emelia has far more google references than Yuri. That should tell you something.

  • Crabs eat everyone (Score:5, Interesting)

    by geoffrobinson ( 109879 ) on Sunday June 03, 2012 @07:00PM (#40204323) Homepage

    I know a retired cop who fished one too many bodies out of the water. He refuses to eat crab.

  • Re:Who? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by shutdown -p now ( 807394 ) on Sunday June 03, 2012 @07:01PM (#40204325) Journal

    In US, perhaps. I very much doubt that there is a single name that would be equally recognizable regardless of one's cultural background, though. For me, the first name that pops into my head corresponding to "most famous pilot" is probably Chkalov.

  • Re:Who? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by turbidostato ( 878842 ) on Sunday June 03, 2012 @08:34PM (#40204853)

    "It's like asking who Neil Armstrong or the Wright brothers are."

    No, it's not. It's more like asking who were Alcock and Brown, or Blériot.

    By the way, have you the slightest idea who they were?

  • Re:Tough call (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Immerman ( 2627577 ) on Sunday June 03, 2012 @08:35PM (#40204865)

    Actually if you have a sheet of plastic and some sort of container to catch the water (bowl, hubcap, etc) it's quite easy to build a solar still to collect enough water to survive - just dig a hole in moist soil/sand, put your container in the center, then cover it with the plastic, weight down the edges, and set a small rock in the center so that as water vapor condenses on the underside it flows down and drips into the container. There are other techniques as well, but that's one of the easiest, and one of many good reasons to keep at least one sturdy garbage bag in your survival kit.

  • by TheGoodNamesWereGone ( 1844118 ) on Sunday June 03, 2012 @09:58PM (#40205265)
    Earhart probably died of thirst. Post-loss radio transmissions suggest that Noonan was seriously injured during the crash landing; if so he probably went before she did. The last credible reception of an Earhart broadcast was on July 7, five days after they disappeared. Niko is hellishly hot, and finding water would've been a real problem. Neither of them understood Morse code, nor had they undergone any meaningful survival training, When seach planes from the battleship Colorado flew over on the 10th they were possibly too weak to get to a clear area in order to wave. That first night encountering coconut crabs must've been truly terrifying. They won't predate you, but if you fall asleep they might think you were carrion....
  • by TheGoodNamesWereGone ( 1844118 ) on Sunday June 03, 2012 @10:59PM (#40205523)
    The Navy DID look for her. They pulled out all the stops, on orders from Roosevelt himself. Earhart shoud've been better prepared for such an endevor-- but neither she nor Noonan could understand Morse code (something that would've prevented their loss) nor did either receive any survival training (something that might've saved their lives on Niko). The Navy sent a battleship and an aircraft carrier to look for her, but her lack of Morse skills doomed her. Even the Japanese navy helped to look for her.

What is research but a blind date with knowledge? -- Will Harvey

Working...